Your Defining Moment

by Cece

Whether you know it or not, at some point in your life you have had a moment that has influenced your future. 

These moments contribute to who we are and everything else about us. Your defining moments may be good or bad; it really doesn’t matter. I have had multiple moments in my life that have made me who I am.

For me, I have more bad defining moments than good. I have had a rough past couple of weeks. My best friend and I got into a fight, she called me names and then I fell off the wagon and cut myself. They are now just barely visible scars, but the moment I took the knife in my hand and the moment my arm swelled and burned are something I will never forget. 

Then about a week or so ago, my dad left. He and my mom had a fight and little did they know I had heard the whole thing. I do not want to disclose what it was about, but my siblings were affected greatly by this sudden change. I have had to grow up a lot lately and be strong for my brother. Lastly, I started not eating. I lost about 6-8 pounds in the last week. I am now eating normally now, but I think I have scared a lot of people lately. They have seen me walk around like a zombie for the past two weeks. |

Until I realized that what I was doing wasn’t helping anyone. I was just making my mom feel worse, my friends scared to leave me alone, and my siblings worried that I couldn’t handle what had happened. 

I don’t want this blog to make you cry or feel bad for me. I want this to show you that even the bad moments in your life are essential  to growing up, to becoming the person who you are. I feel like I have aged about 20 years in this past month. I am a better person; I have a better relationship with GOD, and I now appreciate all the little things in life that I have never noticed before. 

I have created an email at  MightyStrongCece@yahoo.com for anyone who wants to ask me questions, advice or anything. Whatever you want, just ask away. I just want you all to know that I am here for you, and I want to help you with whatever you need.

Viewing my body as God's temple

by Payson

In my life, I've always been the "messed up" friend. The friend who cut herself. The friend who starved herself. The friend who attempted suicide. I've never really known what it was like until just recently.

A very close friend of mine threatened to kill herself a few months back. I raced to her house to find her on the floor, blade in hand, ready to slice open her skin. Luckily, I made it in time, and she didn't go through with it. But let me tell you, that really opened my eyes. 

I had never realized what I put my friends through. I never realized how much pain that they went through for something that I did. I didn't know that it hurt THAT much. But it did. I sat in my friend's house and cried for hours, blaming myself for what she did. "Why didn't I notice it? I know all the signs. I should have been paying her more attention." These thoughts raced through my head, and it made me feel terrible for putting my best friends through this same thing. It will make me think twice when a thought like that ever crosses my mind again.

Also, very recently I found out that a very close friend of mine self harms. I've never been on this end of cutting before. When the text came saying, "Yes, I do," my heart dropped. How could someone so beautiful and so amazing do that to herself. I sat there and looked at the text for a good 10 minutes before responding. I didn't know what to say. I've never been in that situation before. 

I'm sure this is what my friends and family felt when I told them for the first time. Maybe you have felt this way. The best thing for you to do is to encourage them to tell their parents. Then to get professional help. But trust me, I know from experience that won't go over very well. Just be a friend to them. Remind them that you are ALWAYS there for them and that God is there, too. That's what got me through some of my bad days. 1 Corinthians 6:19 talks about your body being God's temple. God gave you that body. He doesn't want you harming it.

It's weird being on this end for once. But God put me through everything that I went through exactly for this reason. So that I can help people who are going though this. It has given me so much knowledge about these things. I have experience that helps me encourage others into recovery. Sometimes I regret going through what I did. But most times I couldn't be more grateful to God. He always knows exactly what He's doing. :)

Understanding beauty

by Ree
I'm just a girl trying to find her place. And I surely do believe that my place is helping other girls who are having trouble understanding that they are beautiful no matter what. 
I am someone wo has suffered for many years believing I am not beautiful enough or good enough for anyone. Yes, my self confidence is still very low, but I am understanding that no matter what I am beautiful.
Pretty much my entire life I looked up to singers, actors, actresses or anyone famous for that matter, but doing so hurt my self confidence. I started to cut myself in seventh grade because I felt I wasn't good enough (but also other reasons as well). I felt as if I would never, ever be good enough. I felt I needed to have the perfect hair. The perfect skin. And of course the smallest body I could possibly have. 
As I got older people at school and members of my own family, would make fun of the clothes I wore, my weight or just the way I looked in general. At that time (my freshmen year), I had been free of cutting for two years, but then one day I just cracked...I let myself slip away back to the pain that only lasted merely a second. 
I was off and on from cutting ever since, and now here I am a junior, and I still am cutting every now and I have been clean for 100 days, which for me is a huge step! Let me help Mighty Strong Girls in letting girls know that they dont have to be a size "0," or have "perfect" anything to be beautiful! 

The Real Truth

By Cece

     Real and true are words I never hear any more. 
     Now girls are all about conforming to society, trying to make friends, landing the cutest boy and doing whatever they can to be noticed. 
     But honestly going through all the trouble doesn’t guarantee happiness or perfection. All you are really doing is admitting that you are willing to change everything about yourself just to gain acceptance. 
      All through junior high school I was what I considered to be a wallflower. People didn’t really notice me. I was invisible to everyone — the bookworm who never said much to anyone.
     But the thing was…that wasn't who I wanted to be. I dreamed of being the center of attention. I wanted to be different, surprising. 
     I felt as if I was trapped in a box, stuck with the image everyone wanted me to be. Even though I wanted to change, to be defined by me, I didn’t try. I thought no one would accept the new me, so I stayed unhappy and miserable. 
     Little did I know that changing the minds of others wouldn’t be as hard as I imagined. I decided to actually try with my appearance, dressing how I wanted to and taking pride in myself. 
     Once I looked the part, I decided to "act" the part. Instead of taking shelter in my fantasy world of literature, I ventured out of my comfort zone and got involved in debates, conversations, and clubs. I didn’t let the opinion of others influence my decisions anymore. 
     Want to know the real truth about breaking away from the crowd and doing your own thing? It just takes determination and confidence to be who you are. No matter what you want to be or do, you have the power to overcome the status quo.

God's grace is bigger than our failures!

Thanksgiving. 

A day to be reminded for what you're thankful for. But for me, it was a day I had been dreading all year.

Last year, I was "sick" on Thanksgiving day, so I didn't eat. I wanted this year to be different. I wanted to enjoy the good food. Mentally, I was so prepared for it. I was ready for the struggle I was going to face. But I wasn't prepared for what actually happened.

About a week before, I found eight blades on my bedroom floor. I quickly grabbed them without thinking and hid them under my mattress. It was a stupid mistake that I regret, but I can't do anything about it now.

I didn't use them that day. Just knowing I had them felt like a kind of security to me. For that week, I didn't really go to God like I should have. I didn't read my Bible or pray. I shut myself off from Him, which is the stupidest thing I've ever done.

Thanksgiving came along and things were going well. I ate a lot for lunch and kept it down. Then at dinner my grandma said I was getting chunky. This isn't the first time she's said this. But even worse, she asked if my sister was anorexic. So my sister's skinny and I'm not.

So basically my Thanksgiving was stressful. That's normal. I have learned how to handle stress better. But I had blades. It was an easy way out, and selfishly, I cut myself.

A few days later my friends found out, and they told me to throw them away. I didn't listen at first, but I knew keeping them was only going to make it harder for me. So I went out to a lake and threw them. But I stopped at the last one. I held it for five minutes. Then the wind took it and tossed it in the lake. Coincidence? I don't think so.

I failed. I not only hurt myself, but I hurt the people around me too. But, God didn't leave me. He picked me up when I fell down. I let Him down, but He didn't give up on me. I turned my back on Him, but He never left. After all the times I have failed, He hasn't left. Isn't that crazy? He hasn't left. If I had a friend who treated me like I sometimes treat God, I would have been long gone. But that's the cool thing about our God. HE WON'T LEAVE YOU. He didn't leave Paul who was persecuting Christians! If you go to Him when you mess up, he will lift you up. He knows what's best for you.

After everything i have done wrong in my life, I am not a failure. Like a good friend and mentor once told me, "Just because you fail, that doesn't mean that you're a failure." I may be to some people, but not to God. I will NEVER be a failure in God's eyes, and neither will you.